Given their predominantly teenage fan base, it was good timing that Odd Future hit Toronto (they play Sound Academy tonight, March 15) during March break.
They’ve been doing temporary pop-up shops in various cities to go along with their tour, and the Toronto edition attracted hundreds of surprisingly well-behaved kids, eager to meet the collective and buy merchandise. Hell, even one of the cops trying to control the masses turned out to be a fan, and got some merch given to him while trying to maintain order. And since merchandise is pretty much one of the only ways to make money in music anymore, it seems they’re not quite as random and out-of-control as the media sometimes likes to paint them as. Maybe these young hooligans have more business sense than they’re given credit for.
On the topic of how the collective is portrayed in the media, even just checking out the insane line up to get into the pop-up shop showed just how much they’re misrepresented. While grumpy backpacker hip-hop fans are fond of complaining about how the L.A. collective are just faux-edgy fodder for middle class white kids, their actual demographic is much more diverse than the super-serious dudes who still can’t get enough of rappers talking about what they think rap used to be over tired jazz funk loops. Yes, they are definitely kids, but that’s exactly what hip-hop was back in the 80s, so maybe they’re actually more old school than their rapidly greying critics?
The main criticism of the group is their supposed misogynist and homophobic outlook, but that’s not nearly as cut and dried as people like Tegan and Sara might think. Yes, crew leader Tyler, The Creator is prone to using the word “faggot” every chance he can get, but when you pay attention to the context it’s obvious he’s using it not to refer to actual gays, but more in the childish non-specific way, and has likely latched on to it because it pisses people off. Tyler definitely likes pissing people off, and that’s the lens that you have to look at everything he does through.
Personally, I’d rather he stop it, but I see some truth in the idea that rather than futilely trying to prevent people from using slurs, it might be more effective to redefine them. Much like how Slut Walk has sapped the power of the word “slut” (after all, what exactly is so bad about being a slut?), or how hip-hop in general has changed the context of the N-word (as a white guy, I’m still not allowed to use it), maybe gleefully saying faggot all the time is an appropriate answer. After all, what exactly is so bad about being a faggot?
And while it’s easy to throw the words “homophobic and misogynist” in front of every mention of Odd Future, how many other successful hip-hop acts have an out-and-proud teenage dyke DJing, producing, and singing as part of their crew? I’m not saying that having a gay friend allows you to use controversial words, but this is a very different situation than Buju Banton telling his fans to kill fags.
Having a gay in your crew doesn’t give you permission to do whatever you want, and it’s likely that Syd tha Kid feels at least somewhat uncomfortable about some of their shenanigans, but the fact remains that she’s pretty much the only high profile out queer woman making beats in urban music. To portray them as the most homophobic and women-hating hip-hop crew in the world when they’re also arguably providing a space for the only out dyke in mainstream rap should cause some cognitive dissonance and provoke a conversation more complex than “they’re evil”.
There’s an argument that their fan base is too young to navigate this complexity, but when you look at the kids lined up all afternoon down Spadina you see many rocking styles that would get them executed in Iraq for appearing too gay. If fey teenagers don’t feel threatened by the questionable language of their favourite rappers, maybe the rest of us should loosen up a bit?
